Midnight Storm: Sequel to Purple Flame
by ihearthorses6000
Summary: A storm began to form in the midnight sky, but only two certain girl knew why. Their grins were happy and wide, because the two best friends had a secret they could no longer hide. (Summary sucks, sequel to my Purple Flame fanfic. Rated T for mild language and gore thanks to the Grim Reaper.)
1. Prologue: Pitch's Believers

Darkness covered the room, which had nothing in it but a suitcase and a bed. A small, skinny seven year old girl shuddered and pulled her thin blanket up to her chin. She leaned over to look around the room, some of her black hair falling in her face. She pulled it back behind her ear to reveal her very blue eyes. She glanced out the only window in the room, staring at the full moon. The blue light reflected on her fair skin. She shuddered with fear, and found the room unearthly cold.

A familiar Boogeyman appeared from the shadows, an evil grin plastered to his face, his sharp, beast-like teeth showing.

"Hello, Midnight."

The girl let out a small whimper. "Pitch."

He leaned towards her until he was inches from her face. She shivered when she felt his cool breath on her neck.

"Remember me?"

"Yes..." Midnight let out a shaky half-sigh.

"And do you remember why I am here?"

"Yes." She rubbed her arm nervously.

"Then please make this quick and easy and no one gets hurt. Your palm?"

She hesitantly let her small, warm hand fall into his icy cold one. Midnight considered whispering something like 'please be gentle,' but it was the Boogeyman she was talking to.

Pitch ripped out a large needle from his long robe. At the sight of it, Midnight shuddered, but didn't pull her hand away. He let it touch the surface skin on the inside of her wrist, and then hesitated.

Pitch looked at her a moment, something that was supposedly worry appearing in his silver-golden eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Ready." Midnight replied.

Pitch slowly eased the needle into her skin. Midnight winced slightly. The Boogeyman took the needle out and quickly wiped at the small drop of the child's greatest fear - blood.

"We're done." Pitch grinned, hiding the needle in his robe again. "Do you think you'll be ready for your appointment with the doctor tomorrow?"

Midnight grinned at him and nodded. "Yes."

He let a small smile grace his lips. "Good. And remember, the doctor will take just a little bit of blood out, so be sure not to look."

"Alright." Midnight replied.

Pitch turned to disappear into the shadows.

"Wait!"

A small voice stopped him dead in his tracks. Well, that, and the fact that a small, warm body had hugged itself to his legs.

"Thank you, Pitch." She whispered.

The shocked Boogeyman couldn't do much. So he placed a hand on the child's head and tried to let it hit him slowly.

A _child_. Was _hugging_. _Pitch Black_.

* * *

"What could this mean?" Tooth muttered.

"It means that Pitch is at it again." North sighed in a mix of distress and annoyance.

"But last time there weren't any black lights." Jack pointed out.

North stared fixedly at the small black light, which was located somewhere in Burgess. "Last time Pitch was trying to take over world by making them not believe in us. Now, he's making them believe in him."

"Hey, enough with the accusing of my father. That black light could mean anything." Donovan said. His siblings nodded in agreement.

"Guys, please, calm down a bit. Bianca just went to sleep, and whoever wakes her up gets to take care of her." Amber hissed quietly.

"Mom?" A six-year-old walked out. Her messy, just-got-out-of-bed, wavy brown hair reached down to her lower back.

"Hey, honey." Amber grinned affectionately.

"What's going on?"

"See that?" Donovan pointed to the black light. "Do you know who lives there?"

"Dono, she's six, and there are a million kids in the world, and she hasn't been out much-" Amber began.

"I know, but if you wanna know about kids you ask kids." Donovan replied.

"Oh, that's Midnight. Midnight Esther Luna." Bianca grinned. "I met her last summer when we went down there."

"Do you remember what she looks like?"

"Of course I do, dad!" Bianca laughed like they thought she was stupid for some reason. "She had black hair and her blue eyes were sparkly and really pretty." She then yawned and one of her blue eyes. The exact same shade as Midnight's.

"Sounds like you're tired. Go on back to bed, now, dear." Amber said gently but firmly.

"But mom-"

"No buts."

"Ugh. Fine." Bianca rolled her eyes and trotted towards the guest room in the pole. The same room that her wintry uncle had despaired in. Except for, Bianca and Amber had made a few adjustments. The walls were now painted like a sunset on one wall, one like a stormy sea, one like a sunny park day, and the last like Bianca's eyes when she was using her powers, which had turned into a stormy gray, and they seemed to be swirling like clouds. Bianca lightly touched one of the rays from the sunset painting and looked up to the moon. "Are you doing well, tonight, Manny?"

Her friend chuckled slightly. _'Very well, and you?' _

"I miss my friend, Midnight, but I'll get by. She's actually a black light on the map...do you know why?"

_'Yes. It's because she likes the Boogeyman.'_

"I _knew_ it! And she wouldn't admit it." Bianca grinned. "I can't wait to see her again!"

_'Indeed. Hush now, child, and do as your mother said.'_

"Alright." Bianca said. Tired, she was more than willing to go to sleep. Of course, when she wanted to rest, it never came her way, so she found herself tossing and turning most of the night. Little did she know, the Boogeyman had listened in on their conversation. Pitch, deciding to try something, removed the nightmare that appeared due to his presence. The horse looked at him questionably, not exactly like being held back from doing what she did best.

"Don't worry, Onyx, you'll get your chance at many others. But not this one." The horse neighed again in annoyance. "Yes, I know I said that about the other one, but I _need_ those two."

* * *

"Guys, look. Another black light." Jack said. "And you're not gonna believe where."

Amber gasped. "_Here_? Who...? -_Bianca_!" She rushed into her daughter's room, to find the six-year-old fast asleep, and not a sound in the room. The fire girl grinned and kissed Bianca on the forehead before leaving the room, and closing the door behind her. The fire girl was confused, but at least she was sure that her daughter was safe.

Pitch sighed and watched as the girl slept. "Don't worry, young Bianca, you will see Midnight again, and a lot, really, as your destiny is intertwined with hers. Even though it's a sad destiny." He looked up at the moon. "Just please tell me, old friend, that things will not turn out as bad as I think they will. Please tell me it's not Grim."

The wind stirred as Manny sighed, his moonlight gently caressing Bianca's beautiful features. _'I'm afraid I can't tell you that.'_

* * *

Ah, yes, this is going to be one fun sequel! Anyone else in agreement?

Yoda: Cool story, this is. Dramatic, hmm?

Yes. Very. Ooh! This is gonna be so fun!

Fact: I'm excited. Keep reading, and I'll keep writing!


	2. Chapter 1: All Hallow's Eve

Midnight dashed through the storm, her skinny legs pumping. The raindrops felt like nails on her skin, but she ignored it. Hot tears ran down her face. She rushed towards a huge, well decorated mansion, ran in, threw the door closed behind her, and darted down ten corridors and turns before running into a back room.

Midnight rushed into the room, which only had a large suitcase and a bed in it, and threw herself onto the bed, her face in the pillow. Midnight's shoulders shook as she resisted her constant sobbing.

A bony, cold, claw-like hand slowly rested on her shoulder. "What's wrong, my Midnight?"

The raven-haired girl looked up for a moment and relaxed when she saw him. She sat up and wiped at a stray tear. "T-The doctor gave me the shot, and he didn't wipe it away, a-and I saw the blood. And it scared me."

Pitch pulled away a strand of soaking wet black hair, and gently touched her forehead. And then he saw it, what caused her that pain- the burglary wasn't meant to be the bloodbath that it was. But the gang were terrified when they were caught those many months ago, and the trigger seemed to pull itself, as they weren't left with much choice. Midnight was unfortunately the one survivor- and she got to see the horror of her parent's last moments. It haunted her, the pools of red her mother and father laid in, the evil grin upon the burglar's face, the bloodthirsty eyes staring at her, the merciless bullet that fired towards her-

Pitch pulled back. There were few things that scared the Boogeyman, yet Pitch found, to his annoyance, that his skin was clammy. "Can I see your arm?"

Midnight extended her hand towards him. Pitch examined it a moment, and found a circular scar on her upper arm where the bullet had fired. The seven-year-old quickly pulled her hand away, hiding the scar as memories flashed by her. She had also been hit in the knee as well, and at the thought, she snuggled deeper into the blanket. Due to blood loss, and already being extremely skinny at the time, everyone would've expected her to die of the same fate as her parents. But Midnight surpassed that expectation.

"Would you like me to keep the nightmares away for the night?" Pitch asked, remembering, with a wince, the last time she had slept with blood on her mind.

Midnight stared at him, and pure shock flashed through her eyes. "Excuse me? Did I just hear you correctly?" Her blue jewels narrowed. "Who are you? And what've you done to Pitch?"

Pitch grinned. "You got me. I'm Mr. TooshyButt from the candy cane department, and I'm here to cover you in candy!" He leaned over and tickled her stomach.

"Stop-Stop, I can't-" She laughed uncontrollably. She attempted, and failed, to stop giggling between her words. "Okay, Mr. TooshyButt, what've you done to Pitch?!"

"I put him in the Rainbow Room of Doom, where everything's colorful. He's quite miserable down there." Pitch grimaced at the thought.

"I'll bet." Midnight grinned.

"Midnight, are you home?!" A croaky, loud voice called across the halls.

"Yes, sir!" Midnight called back.

"Good, then come clean the windows till they shine! And the dishes need scrubbing!"

"Okay, sir!" Midnight started to get up, but gentle, yet firm, hands stopped her.

"Who's he?" Pitch demanded.

"My grandpa, I've been staying with him for the past few months, since..." She trailed off.

"And he's making _you_, a _seven_ _year_ _old_, scrub _all_ the windows in this gigantic mansion, _and_ do his filthy _dishes_?" Pitch stared at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Midnight replied, not sure where he was going.

"Stay here and go to sleep." Pitch growled, clearly annoyed. He tucked her in and started to leave.

"But the chores-"

"I got it covered." He gave her a small smile before slowly and carefully closing the door. Midnight wondered, for a moment, what Pitch could be up to, but then she shook her head and laid down, letting her tired state catch up with her, deciding that she really didn't want to know.

* * *

Satan scowled to himself, sitting on his red/golden throne. His long claws tapped the armrest in a steady rhythm. The reddish black shadows of Hell swirled like ripples in a pond, yet to anyone else, the shadows would be intoxicating, filling the air with your darkest memories, or suffocating, strong, powerful fear, misery, and weakness, or all of the above. A dark, tall figure with a suddenly appeared from the shadows, before the Red King. "It's about time!" Satan jumped up. "Where've you been?!"

"You _really_ don't want to know." The raspy, dark, ghostly voice made the Devil shudder. The figure was tall, dark, and slender, and had bone veins where black wings used to be. His long, dark cloak dragged behind him, swirling like fog.

"That's probably true. Is all going according to plan?"

"Quite so." The voice chuckled, pulling a long, blood-dried scythe out of black cloak. His hands, which were mostly his bony claws, tightened around the long wooden twisting handle. "And I think that you'll be pleased with the results." He started to pull out a tiny black flame, but just as Satan's eager claws nearly touched it and twisted around it, the dark figure pulled it away. "First, two more victims."

Satan sighed like he was being asked to pay an unfair price, and, with a wave of his hand, made two people, one a girl, one a man, both in chains, appear.

"Thank you." He said darkly, and basically tossed the tiny flame to Satan. The Devil grinned and put it in a large golden cup.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," the dark figure turned transparent, and continued to disappear, "I have some people to kill."

* * *

"Midnight!" Bianca rushed towards her friend. They were both at a familiar park in Burgess.

"Bianca!" They hugged, and laughed for a moment. "Hey, I got an idea!"

"What?"

"Tag! You're it!"

And they rushed around the playground, Pitch and Amber watching them.

Amber opened her mouth to speak, but then suddenly turned to the two girls running around. "BIANCA STORM BLACK! No sand throwing!" She yelled.

"Aw." Bianca sighed sadly, throwing her handful of sand to the ground. "Can I at least play in the sand?"

"So I have to wash you for two hours because of the sand in your hair?! I don't think so!" She called back.

"Where's everyone else?" Pitch asked her after a moment of silence.

"All busy. And Jack couldn't come because of the weather." Amber replied. It was getting colder, to Jack's excitement, but it was still too early for snow. After all, it was just a few days before Halloween.

An awkward silence continued to stretch between them as they watched the two children.

"Bianca, your eyes are gray...and they match the sky!" Midnight exclaimed. Amber got up immediately and rushed towards her daughter. Bolts of lighting zapped around Bianca and Midnight, causing the latter of the girls to stumble backwards in fear, while Bianca stood, frozen, no emotion on her face, her eyes distant.

The clouds in the sky swirled and began to form around Bianca. The mother of the said girl ran up and held her daughter tightly. "Shh. It's okay, it's okay, calm down." She whispered. "No one's going to hurt you."

Bianca's eyes slowly turned back to their original blue eyes. "Mom?"

"Yes. What happened, dear?" Amber asked.

"Oh, nothing, I just fell, and I think I'm bleeding a little-" Bianca looked down at her gashed knee. Midnight instantly looked away.

"It's fine, just a cut." Amber said, putting a band aid over the miniature wound. "I'll be right over here, okay? Call me if you need anything." She walked over and sat down on the grass again.

"Why did your eyes turn gray?" Midnight asked.

"Mom said it was because when I get hurt my instincts kick in." Bianca replied. "But I don't know."

Midnight shrugged and they continued to play.

* * *

Blake sighed, sitting on a tree, staring into the distance as the sun continued to set. Rays of orange, pink, gold, and purple were splayed out across the sky.

Invidia walked behind him. "Blake, it's almost time."

"I know." Blake shuddered at the thought of Halloween. "Let's just go." He got up and followed his sister.

All of the four siblings shared their discomfort. Halloween was supposed to be _their_ holiday, _their_ night, but instead, it was just the Boogeyman's, while their own father plagued them with very particular nightmares.

"Do you think we'll see her again, like we did last year?" Monica asked suddenly. They were all sitting in Pitch's lair, their home. The darkness around them swirled around them, as if just waiting for sleep to overcome them.

"I hope not." Donovan shuddered. As the sunset entirely, a red nightmare instantly formed before them, neighing angrily. They were supposed to be asleep. But this Nightmare was patient, and it laid down in front of them, just waiting for them to give into their tired eyes.

Hours later, the stroke of midnight rang out from an old clock, and it echoed across the dark lair.

Invidia was the first to give in. She sighed a sigh that said 'I can't take it anymore', as she was too tired to so much as whisper, and let her stinging eyes close and fly her off to sleep.

Instantly, the red Nightmare touched the top of her head, and the nightmare appeared. The others shuddered, knowing the same would happen to them if they didn't manage to stay awake. But the darkness and familiarity of their peaceful home made it hard not to. So, every year, they found themselves falling asleep and giving into their nightmares.

* * *

Donovan:

Invidia, the most energy-wasting, exhausted one out of the four of us, was always the first to go. I was always the second, so I just fought until I couldn't anymore, and that was probably an hour or so after Invidia.

I saw the red Nightmare tower over me before I had even closed my eyes. And the nightmare began.

"Pitch Black!" Her face lit up. Most young adults didn't even believe in my father, yet a certain someone absolutely loved him.

"Jessica _Black_." Pitch chuckled at her.

"Black? Um, are you dreaming again, my dear? It's Jessica _Richards_, and-" She suddenly gasped as the Boogeyman held out a ring. "Oh my god, yes, yes, _yes_!" She laughed and hugged him tightly.

Of course, it was a little odd to the humans, how our mother literally disappeared, but she couldn't care less. She was with the man she loved, and that was all that mattered to her.

I shuddered in my sleep as I pictured her joyful laugh. Her bright smile. Her black hair that matched the nighttime sky. Her sparkling green eyes.

_Why did she have to die? _

* * *

A few minutes after Donovan fell asleep, Blake followed. Monica was able to stay up the longest, but she too soon fell asleep as the nightmares of their mother haunted them.

Pitch glanced once into the lair, and let a small grin grace his lips. He had put a spell on the lair, so that if the four didn't go into the lair by sundown, they wouldn't be able to enter it ever again, and this they knew well. So, of course, they always went into the lair, where Pitch had also created the red Nightmare to haunt them of their mother, who's birthday was on All Hallow's Eve.

Pitch made a picture of a familiar smiling face out of black sand and he touched it sadly. "I miss and love you, my dear." He chuckled sadly. "I think it's because of you that I like a different black haired girl. She reminds me of you. Beautiful, happy, yet afraid..." He sighed, making Midnight's face out of black sand as well. "And, another thing that you two had in common, when she's afraid, I want to comfort her instead of embracing the fear...Same for a brunette." He made a face of Bianca. "I fear danger for all of us in the future..." He made all the faces disappear but his wife's, and then turned that face into a black cat. "So watch carefully." He rubbed the black cat behind the ear, and then it meowed and scattered away.

Jessica had been one of Pitch's few believers, and she had, by far, been his favorite.

And Manny hadn't meant for his attack to be directed at Jessica, it had been for Pitch, for the Boogeyman had gone out of control. (And this was long before the other Guardians were chosen.)

It was meant to turn Pitch into a harmless bat for a thousand years, but, instead, it turned Jessica into a black cat, her green eyes turning into bright yellow ones. And instead of thousand years, it was for a hundred thousand years.

The two would have to wait that long just to see each other, and Pitch was sure her memory would fade by then, so the chances of seeing Jessica ever again were sadly little to none.

Pitch sighed sadly. "I think that your kids have had enough nightmares, don't you?" He asked to one he knew wasn't there, and, with a flick of his hand, the nightmares disappeared as the slightest shade of pink touched the sky.

* * *

Donovan:

I woke up to see, to my shook, Amber towering over me. "Wake up, sleepy head." She looked around at the rest of us, as we all groaned tried to move. "You guys seriously slept on the ground?"

"All the other doors are locked." Invidia replied, appearing to be the one most refreshed by the uncomfortable sleep. But that's Invidia, for ya. "So we were stuck in here last night."

Amber winced. I had already told her about Jessica, (even though I lied to her the first time. Sorry, I had to. It was just too personal to just spill to some random fire girl.) so she knew that we came down here every Halloween, but I never really expected her to come.

"Ugh." I moaned, every muscle resisting me, my back cracking as I attempted and failed to get up. Just go back to sleep. My mind was begging me. "I think I'm gonna go back to sleep."

"On the floor? Again?" Amber asked. "How about this. Get up and I'll get you into an actual bed." The idea sounded slightly tempting, but moving, however, was not. Then she grinned and leaned towards me. "And I'll kiss you on the way."

I forced myself to jump up, even though my tired legs begged me to lay back down, groaning under the weight of the rest of me.

"That got you up quick." Monica chuckled.

"No kidding." Blake laughed.

"Eh, shut up." I growled back at them, and followed my wife.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Alright, so for the present it's just been the answers to questions, getting to know this and that, but from here on out it gets really interesting really fast. (Mostly because I gotta time warp. By about six years, to be exact.)**

**Oh, and so, so, sorry it's taken forever for me to write this. Really, it was just because I was staying with my family during the Fourth of July. And yesterday I wrote this, and today I'm editing it.**

**So yeah. Cya soon!**

**-ihearthorses6000**


	3. Chapter 2: Grim Reaper's Graveyard

Ten years later:

"Quick, quick! Run, now, before they-" Bianca shoved her best friend out of North's workshop, but not soon enough. Donovan grabbed her hand and yanked them both inside.

"Nice try, where're you guys going?" Amber asked. Donovan had them both sit down and then sat down next to his wife.

"Out..." Bianca sighed.

"Out where?"

"Anywhere." Bianca replied. "I'm just tired of being cooped up doing nothing. I wanna go out, and see the world..."

Amber exchanged a worried glance with Donovan. Amber was worried that would get hopelessly lost, and Donovan was worried that his sixteen-year-old daughter wasn't ready to know the pain of being walked through, of not being believed in.

"Alright, you guys can go." Amber sighed.

Bianca gaped. "We can-we can _what_?! Oh my gosh!" She jumped up, grinning widely. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"_But_, I got some rules." Amber warned her daughter and her best friend. "So listen up."

"Oh, brother. Prepare yourself, Midnight." A sixteen-year-old Bianca, wearing a silver tank top and jeans, with her wavy brain hair in a high pony tail, groaned, nudging her friend, who was wearing a black tank top with a few white sparkles here and there, looking much like the night sky, and knee-long jeans, her long, black hair just past her shoulder blades. Their figures were much more feminine, and and they were both wearing sneakers. They had matching blue jewel necklaces that matched their eyes.

"You guys will bring a map, I really don't want you lost. Chances are, no one will be able to see you, and Satan shouldn't be a problem, as he's stuck in Hell. And be prepared for just about anything. And...uh...what else...yeah, I think that's about it." Amber said.

"Oh, wait, one more." Donovan said. "If you guys are not back by exactly ten thirty, _on the dot_, I will have North get out the sleigh and we will all search the freaking globe for you guys. Understood?"

"Note to self, be back before ten fifteen if you don't want to be assumed dead." Bianca muttered.

"Okay, okay, okay, let's _go_!" Midnight said, and they rushed off before the couple could say another word.

* * *

"Hello, Rorio." Pitch chuckled. He grinned down at Midnight's grandfather. The wrinkled, white-haired man shuddered in his sleep when he heard the silky voice. "Ah, so you remember me? I almost feel sorry for you, you know. But not quite." He shook his head. "It's become a habit, you know, giving you so many nightmares every single night. Done it for so many years now... I started to wonder if I was too harsh, but then I laughed at myself. Because even if I am, I couldn't care less." Pitch laughed quietly. The nightmares that he had given poor Rorio had mostly been about his terrible past, involving mostly of criminals and gangs, but tonight was going to a particular nightmare, to see if Rorio would finally break, because all he had done in the past with his nightmares is take it out on Midnight and have her do things that were much worse than just chores. (Details I will not mention.) Pitch reached out and touched just above his head, and the nightmare appeared.

Rorio whimpered like a little girl. The nightmare appeared of Midnight the night her parents died, and Rorio torturing and abusing her. Then it was Midnight in her bed with fresh tear stains on her face. A hand touched her arm, and she looked up to see Pitch, who suddenly looked directly into Rorio's eyes, and something like a growl and a hiss came out at the same time. "_Leave. Her. Alone._"

"MIDNIGHT!" Rorio's blue eyes flew open as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Pitch chuckled to himself and hid in the shadows, trying to decide whether or not to jump out and terrify the poor man more.

Rorio sighed to himself and wiped sweat from his forehead. "It was...it was just a dream. Oh, phew, it was just a dream. Just a freaky nightmare." He tried to calm himself down. "There's no freaky monster, killer, human...man...thing..."

Pitch couldn't contain his wicked chuckles that echoed across the room. "Oh really?"

Rorio froze. His slowly turned his head to the shadows, where all he saw was the Boogeyman's silver-golden eyes, and his wide smirk, showing off his sharp teeth. The grandfather's blood turned gelid. He slowly got out of the bed, moving towards the door. At the last second he screamed, "MOMMY!" and ran out.

"Ooh, that was priceless." Pitch chuckled. "If only Midnight could've seen that." The Boogeyman then disappeared into the shadows and headed towards his lair. Meanwhile, Rorio searched for Midnight, and when he didn't find her, he crawled into her bed and yanked the sheets over his head, refusing to go back upstairs.

* * *

Satan was surprised to hear someone other than Grim or himself in Hell, so he quickly hid behind a wall and listened. "Master, what are your orders?" A low voice hissed. Who would be stupid enough to invade Hell, of all places? Did they _want_ to be miserable?

"Nothing." A familiar ghostly voice replied. "I'll handle it. I'll take out the stronger ones, the newer ones, and the ones that will leave them broken. So, for the moment, just be patient. You'll get your taste of gore."

"Alright, Master. But you know that Satan's listening, don't you?"

Satan's breath caught in his throat and his skin turned ashen.

"I knew before he did." Grim chuckled.

"Should I kill him?"

"No. He'll die soon enough. Let him go run off and tell whomsoever he wishes. It'll only make this much more fun."

These words the Devil didn't hear, as he was already dashing through the other side of Hell.

* * *

"PIITTCH!"

"What in the name of- _Satan_?!" The Boogeyman gasped. The portal to Hell was opened in Pitch's lair, and a terrified Satan was standing in it. Only half of him could even partly exit Hell, so he was rather trapped in his own home. "What could you possibly want now, you freak?"

"Hold- on, I just-" He tried to catch his breath. "Man, I really need to work out more." He sighed. "Pitch, Grim is back. And he's out for blood."

"He's-He's _what_?!" The Boogeyman grew just as horrified as the Devil.

"And he said he was going after the 'newer ones'!"

"Newer? Wha-?" His golden eyes widened. Then Pitch turned and dashed off, leaving the lair with one word; "_Midnight_!"

* * *

"This is awesome!" Bianca grinned, staring down at a large, well-lit city under the starry sky.

"I've always wanted to go to Paris, but I never imagined being on top of the Eiffel Tower!" Midnight grinned. "This is so amazing!" Her eyes turned to the blanket of darkness above them. "Very amazing."

"Come on, let's go down." Bianca said, and, just like that, they both jumped off the Eiffel Tower. They both grinned as the wind whipped in their faces before they both used their powers to fly; Midnight using her powers to make a coat of darkness turn into a flying skateboard, Bianca using her powers to make a fog-like cloud appear and ride on it.

"WAHOO!" Midnight grinned and they pulled up just inches from the ground.

"Come on, let's go to Egypt and prove that mummies exist." Bianca grinned.

"Yeah! Or we could..." Midnight looked towards the woods in the distance and fear surfaced her eyes. "Run as far as possible from _that_ thing!"

"Wha-?" Bianca looked behind her to find a dark figure with bones for wings and a long, blood-dried scythe rushing towards them. "Yeah, I like your idea better! Let's go!"

They didn't seem to know that running from something that can travel by darkness, especially in the dim, fog-filled woods, is basically impossible. The forest itself was usually quiet, except an owl or two, but with the girl's occasional screams, and their footsteps, it became a terrifying darkened maze of fog. Where their feet were loud and echoed off the trees, Grim Reaper's steps were were eerily noiseless and left no footprint.

"Ah!" Midnight just barely dodged getting her head cut clean off her shoulders. "What_ is_ this thing?!"

"I don't know, and I _really_ don't want to find out!" Bianca and her best friend began to run out of the woods.

"Why leave so soon?" A ghostly voice chuckled. "I haven't made a proper introduction." He grabbed a rusty, black chain, and threw it towards Midnight. It twisted like a snake, and, acting as if it was very much alive, grabbed the raven-haired girl's waist and yanked her back to Grim.

"Damn, Midnight, do you know how many times I've had to save your ass?!" Bianca yelled, grabbing both of her hands and pulling her away from the dark figure.

"Do you know how many times I've had to clean up your mess- ow! Stop, stop!" Midnight howled with pain, the chains tightening around her until fresh blood stained through her shirt. "Shit! S-Stop!" She whimpered.

"Dammit, I'm slipping!" Bianca cried.

"Shit, _shit_!" Their hands finally slipped and separated, Grim yanking Midnight into the darkness.

"BIANCA!"

And with that, they were gone.

* * *

The brunette rushed to where her best friend was, and found a big, fat, heartbreaking nothing.

"_Bianca_?" Pitch asked, surprised, appearing from the shadows. He looked around worriedly. _'I could've sworn I smelled really strong fear...'_ "Are you okay? Why is there blood on the ground? Where's Midnight?"

"I-I don't know. There was this guy in a cloak with a scythe and he grabbed her and I couldn't get to her in time, and they were gone, and I-" She broke, her mask shattering as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hush, hush, it's okay." Pitch caught her when her knees gave out.

"W-We gotta find her. S-She's like my sister."

"I know, I know."

"Pitch, do you have any idea who took her?" She wiped away a tear.

Pitch looked into the darkness and didn't respond. Worry flashed his golden eyes as he stuttered and failed to reply. His breath stopped for a moment.

And Bianca knew that look far too well. "It's that bad?"

Pitch sighed. "I'm afraid so."

* * *

"Letter! Letter from Grim!" North shouted throughout the pole. The Black Family and the Guardians all jumped up and watched as North read the letter aloud. "_'I call it fun, you call it spilling blood. At the graveyard on Tuesday, half past ten. Go there alone, my dear, your friend is waiting. And death is in the air. -The Grim Reaper.'_"

"What does he mean, 'my dear'?" Jack wondered aloud.

Eyes slowly turned to Bianca.

"He means me." She nodded. "Alright...today's Tuesday. And it's already nine thirty." She turned to leave.

"_Not so fast!_" Pitch, Donovan, and Amber said at the same time.

"Grim is a monster. You can't just waltz into his graveyard and expect to get Midnight back." Donovan reasoned.

"Not only is he a monster, but he makes his own rules just so he can break them, and has only two emotions; bloodthirsty and amused. He doesn't feel pain or sympathy in any way at all." Pitch added.

"So I'm just supposed to sit around and do nothing?" Bianca demanded. Silence followed. "Ugh. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go save my best friend."

A pale, ice-cold hand grabbed hers. "I'm going too." The winter sprite announced.

A small grin graced her lips. "Thanks, Jack. Anyone else?"

Everyone took a step forward and followed her as Bianca grabbed two snow globes and put one in her pocket, the other she threw to the floor and walked through the portal, the others soon following.

* * *

"She won't come alone, you know." Midnight stared up at her captor. Blood stained her lower shirt around her waist, and on her ankles and hands where shackles tightened. The one that had originally wrapped itself around her waist was now giving her an occasional whipping on the back, causing the black-haired girl to howl in agony.

"Oh, I know. That's what I'm counting on. So I can kill all of them." Grim grinned at the thought.

"No! This is just between you and me." Midnight hissed at him.

"Ha! No, my dear, this is between me and whomsoever is foolish enough to enter my graveyard." Suddenly, Grim grinned and his pupils dilated. Although his graveyard was miles long, and they were nowhere in sight, the Grim Reaper knew the moment a single foot was set on his territory. "Ah, yes. They'll be joining us shortly." And with that, he disappeared into the shadows, leaving Midnight to roll in her pain.

* * *

"Ugh. This place is...what's the word..." Invidia scrunched up her nose, smelling the mix of death, blood, and flesh that rose from the depths of the graveyard.

"Terrifying? Horrid? Disgusting?" Monica guessed.

"Gut-wrenching." Invidia corrected.

"I have a question." Bianca spoke up. "There are plenty of shadows here, and the stars are just barely visible. Why doesn't Midnight use her powers?"

"Satan can control who has power in his realm, and the Grim Reaper can do the same." Pitch replied.

"Oh, not only that, Boogeyman." A dark voice chuckled. "I could quite easily kill all of you with a snap of my finger."

"Then why don't you?" Blake demanded.

"Oh, don't tempt me." Grim laughed. "And what fun would that be? It would be so much more amusing to see you all struggle before you die. Now, if we're done here, it's time for some drama! Who should be first, I wonder? What do you think, Shadow?"

"I think..." They could hear the grin in it's dark voice. "That old Santa's 'wonder' is getting _so_ annoying."

"As you wish." Grim chuckled.

North suddenly cried out in pain, yet no physical damage was done to him. The large man dropped to his knees, his over-sized hands covering his ears. A low, deafening, and somewhat manly scream echoed across the graveyard. Then old Santa began actively swearing in Russian. He muttered an occasional English word, but mostly his swearing was (thankfully) in a language the others couldn't understand.

"North!" Tooth exclaimed, rushing towards him.

"Tooth, s-stay back! Just stay-" North managed to mutter, then cried out again, leaving the Guardian of Memories to hesitate.

"Does it hurt, old man?" Grim asked, grinning. The black eyes stared happily at him from the darkness. "Do you know how _easily_ I could make that pain go away? Don't you think it would be a relief to die, compared to the pain you now carry with you?" He hissed. "You just have to ask..."

North's 'naughty' hand tightened itself around a rock until blood stained his skin. The Guardian of Wonder aimlessly threw the rock in the general direction of Grim's voice, only to find that Grim was somehow already thirty feet away.

"He's not going to give in, is he?" 'Shadow' asked.

"Probably not. But that's the fun part." Grim chuckled.

"...May I?"

"Be my guest." The Grim Reaper laughed.

North screamed again before punching the ground until his fists began to bleed. Red tears dripped from his eyes.

"Ha ha! This is fun." 'Shadow' laughed.

"Oh, but wait, look at this-" Grim said, and a few moments later, blood seeped through North's clothes and stained it red. Old Saint Nick was soon covered in gore.

North gasped as the breath in his lungs suddenly felt like lead, and his breathes became rapid. With a cough, Santa clutched his chest and wished the pain to go away.

"You don't have much time left, you know, and if you don't say it now you won't be able to say it ever." 'Shadow''s whispers echoed in his ears.

Tooth didn't hesitate a moment longer. The others quickly surrounded the Guardian of Wonder with worried eyes. Tooth put her hand in his, the Guardian of Memories simply ignoring how his hand tightened around hers until it turned purple and she couldn't feel it. A shaky sigh escaped the old man as he closed his eyes tightly. "D-Do it."

The moment the words escaped his lips, the tight grip around Tooth's hand disappeared and his hand fell to the ground next to the lifeless body.

"_North_!" Bianca, Tooth, and Jack exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh no, no, no." Monica fell to her knees. "_Shit_..."

"Wow! That was fun." 'Shadow' chuckled. "But doing one at a time could take forever."

"That's true... three at a time should be overwhelming, for them, however. Let's see...who should I pick next?"

"The green girl, the kangaroo, and the dream guy."

"Dammit, I'ma bloody _bunny_!" The Guardian of Hope exclaimed.

"Oh, you're not bloody, not yet." Grim chuckled. "Let's change that."

Black, rusty, blood-dried chains came out of nowhere and grabbed the chosen three. Invidia let out a deafening high pitched scream, Bunny's eyes rolled back, and Sandy froze, looking half dead.

"_Invidia_!" Her siblings exclaimed, rushing towards them.

The Empress of Jealousy suddenly fell limp, as did the Guardian of Hope, while Sandy remained in his standing, dead-looking position. The chains removed itself from them, and only then did Sandy open his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding.

"Ugh! That golden sparkly guy figured it out." Shadow hissed.

"I should've guessed." Grim replied.

The chains disappeared into the shadows.

"Figured out what, exactly?" Bianca asked.

_The chains are the Chains of the Year-Long Sleep. Those who get caught by them will remain in a deep sleep, until one year has passed, then they will die. The only way to escape it is to make the chains think that you're already dead._ The Guardian of Dreams replied through his sand pictures.

"Well, can't use that anymore... how about the Fearlings?"

"That sounds amusing." Grim chuckled. "Are you up for it, Boogeyman?"

"Now might be a good time to run." Pitch muttered under his breath, before taking his own advice.

Pitch's former minions appeared from the shadows, eyes bright yellow, mouths set in a permanent scream/frown. Their nonexistent legs came together into a ghost-like smoke that trailed behind them.

"Pitch, we could use some info!" Jack exclaimed.

"Whatever you do, whatever you see, don't-"

"M-Mom?" Blake suddenly muttered under his breath.

"Oh no." The Boogeyman whispered.

There she was. Hair black as night, eyes green as a pine tree. Pitch's supposedly dead wife.

"Pitch! Kids!" She grinned. "Come with me, I know how to get us out of here!"

"Mommy? How? How do we leave?!" Monica exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. "M-Mom, it's Invidia, a-and North, and Bunny, and they're insane, and-"

"Shh." Jessica said soothingly. "Come here, baby, let me hug you. And then tell me what happened."

Monica willingly walked towards her mother.

"No!" Pitch exclaimed, rushing towards them. Everyone sent him the strangest looks, before it turned into a shock of horror as his black-sand scythe was sent straight through her neck.

"The same trick doesn't work twice, Pitch." Jessica grinned, her usually pale, pretty face turning into one worthy of a horror film. The ugly black haired head fell off the shoulders before the body fell into black sand, and then forming into a Fearling.

"Sorry, Monica, I was pretty sure you didn't want to hug that." Pitch Black said.

"No, thanks, Dad." Monica replied, wiping away a stray tear. "How do we kill these things?"

"You can injure them with any kind of power, but only fire or ice can kill them." Pitch replied.

Jack and Amber exchanged a glance, both of them trying not to grin.

"Dang it, I would kill for some powers right now." Tooth muttered, looking at her wings, which were limping and she couldn't feel.

"That sounds like fun." Shadow chuckled. Millions of Fearlings appeared from the darkness and surrounded them.

Amber chuckled as fire sizzled on her axe. "You ready for this, ice boy?" She turned to her brother.

Jack grinned in reply as they went back to back. "Ready as I'll ever be, fire cannon."

The Pitch Black family and the Guardians also formed a circle.

"Then let's get this party started."

* * *

**A/N: And there's that chapter... I got nothing else to say, so... **

**-ihearthorses6000**


	4. Chapter 3: Keeper of Time

"He's going to kill you, you know." A broken voice suddenly sounded throughout the graveyard.

Midnight looked around, but only found herself wincing and looking away again. A blonde girl's head and a pool of blood was all that she could find in the foul smelling place.

"Over here."

There he was, hiding behind a tree. Dark skinned, green eyes, black hair. And terrified.

"What the freak?" Midnight managed to mutter.

He stepped out to reveal the chains on his hands. "He's_ insane_."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it."

"Then I really don't what to know the other half." He shuddered, remembering the previous night he had spent with that monster they called the Grim Reaper.

_Grim Reaper's Graveyard was worse than Devil's Hell. Far, far worse. Gray fog and shadows leaked out of the multiple blood-stained graves. The darkness was the spirits' cry to be let out of their permanent prisons, but they knew their pleas were in vain, as they also knew that Grim had no mercy._

_The smell of death and bloodcurdling screams were common in his graveyard, as Grim had some terrible serial killer habits. And a few prisoners, who were often chained to a grave with their name written in blood on it, weren't unpopular, either._

_That night, the murderer only had two prisoners; a twenty-year-old dark skinned, black haired male with terrified green eyes, and a twelve-year-old blonde girl._

_The Blondie's body was splayed out around a fresh pool of blood. Gashes, cuts, and lethal wounds made up the very miserable girl. The girl weakly looked up at Grim. Fear, panic, and misery surfaced in her blue eyes, but in her state, so much as breathing was a miracle. So she simply looked away as her killer came closer._

_"Why are you doing this to me?" She managed to mutter against her heavy breath._

_Grim's chuckle had no emotion in it as he lifted his scythe as a baseball player would a bat. "Because it's fun." His cold, hollow, ghostly voice made her shudder. His black, empty, bloodthirsty eyes were the last things she saw._

_The man's blood ran cold as the cry of terror echoed across the graveyard. The girl's head rolled towards him, her face in permanent scream. He shuddered and moved away from it._

_Grim grinned as he approached his next victim._

_"Please, before you kill me, at least tell me who you are." He blurted out._

_Grim stopped for a moment as he replied, while the man silently rejoiced over how he had delayed his quickly approaching murder. "I'm the Grim Reaper. Spirit and Personification of Death. I'm the kind of monster you would see making his enemies so miserable they would beg him to kill them. Would you like me to," He twisted his scythe around, "demonstrate?"_

The man shuddered with the ugly memories. The rest of the night was a blur, but he was sure of one thing; with all the pain he had, he was going to die begging for it.

"Why...why does he do this? What's the purpose?" Midnight asked.

"I don't know. He just...kills." The man replied.

"Precisely." A hollow voice echoed around them.

"Dammit, go to hell, you freak!" Midnight cursed.

"Why? It's so much more fun to be here. Satan's place is just child's play. Although, I do need to get rid of him soon." Grim replied, appearing from the shadows.

At the sight of the murderer, the man suddenly got one last burst of energy despite his weakened state; he rushed up the tree he had hidden behind and held onto it for dear life.

"Haha!" Grim chuckled, coming up so close he was inches from Midnight's face. "Unlike him, you're not afraid of me."

She spat in his face. "Why should I be?"

He chuckled again and shook his head. "This is why."

The man cried out in pain and crumbled to the ground, then knife Grim had thrown still in his neck. Midnight winced.

Grim then turned toward the teen. "Because as long as you're in this graveyard, everything is to my advantage. Oh, and your friends arrived. So far it's just been fun and games over there."

"What did you do to them?!" She snapped in anger.

"I think you already know."

The color drained from the girl's face. "You didn't..."

"I did." Grim smiled. "I would love to prove it to you, I'm sure your face would be amusing, but I can't let you see the party over there until you and Bianca are the ones standing. No, I don't think she'll be standing. Probably lying in a pool of red."

He chuckled at the look on her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some guests to attend to."

Grim disappeared into the darkness, letting Midnight cry herself into a temporary, nightmare-filled sleep.

* * *

"How's the party going, Shadow?" Grim asked his apprentice.

Shadows stared out from under his cloak for a moment at the gore in front of him. Black sand, fire, ice, explosions, dead Fearlings, and blood surrounded them. The few remaining Fearlings were being attacked by either Jack or Amber, while the others stood behind them, Donovan, Pitch, and Monica all looking with worried eyes at Blake and Tooth. Both of the said immortals were staring into the distant darkness, paralyzed with fear. Occasionally and suddenly, they jerked around, screaming, in some kind of trance, oblivious to everything else around them.

"Marvelous." Shadow summed it up into one word.

"Alrighty then. I think it's about time for the Devil to join us." With a snap of his fingers, the tall, red-horned figure found himself being shoved out of Hell.

"What the-?" He gasped at the horror around him before his eyes meeting Grim's. "AH!" And with that, the Devil fainted.

"That was the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time." Shadow laughed.

"This is just gonna be too easy." The Grim Reaper sighed, before taking out his blood-dried scythe.

Right on cue, the Devil woke up with another scream as he saw the cloaked figure standing with a scythe aimed for his neck. And after stumbling for a moment, he leaped to his feet and ran faster than he ever had. "DON'T KILL ME, DON'T, PLEASE DON'T! PLEASE-"

And Shadow cut his head off. "Sorry, I know you wanted to do the honors, but he really needed to shut up."

"Agreed." Grim chuckled. "Now, as for those two-" With a snap of his fingers, Blake and Tooth suddenly jerked to their feet, eyes staring into space. And then they walked towards Grim like slaves. The murderer ran one of his claws along Tooth's neck.

"Don't touch them!" Jack yelled.

Grim chuckled and let his claw dig deeper into the fairy's neck. The Guardian of Memories was snapped back to reality as she cried out in pain.

"Let her go!" Blake was also out of the trance. He aimed his black-sand-covered fist at Grim's hidden face. With a chuckle, the monster caught the King of Hate's fist in his own and twisted it, and the body attached, towards Shadow, where Blake quickly recovered and began fighting Grim's apprentice.

The rest of the world's Guardians rushed forward to fight as well. Tooth, on the other hand, was doing more than okay by herself, as one of her quick fists managed to land a blow at Grim's hand, causing him to drop the scythe, and another attack at his face.

The assassin chuckled as he wiped blood from his mouth. "Now this one, I like."

"Shut up, you freak!" Tooth exclaimed, hitting him in the chest. She looked once to Blake's fight, and found him tied up by his own black sand, a knife aimed for his throat. The dagger, and Shadow's attached body, was suddenly flung aside by the quick fairy.

"Haha! This one I _really_ like." Grim chuckled as Tooth helped Blake back over to the others.

"Does that mean you have a more merciful fate in mind?" Shadow asked.

"Something of the sort." Grim replied. Jack, Amber, Blake, Tooth, Monica, and Donovan were suddenly pushed forward by an invisible force, and a cage, with lighting for bars, fell over top of them. The six all fell to their knees, sleepiness written in their faces.

"Instead of permanent silence, permanent sleep?" Shadow guessed.

"Precisely."

As those words were said, all of them fell limp into a deep sleep.

And it was down to the final three; Pitch, Bianca, and Sandy.

"Who do you hate the most out of that bunch, Shadow?"

"Probably Sandman."

"I figured."

They turned back to attack Sandy, to find he was no longer beside Pitch and Bianca.

"Where'd he go?" Shadow looked around, just in time to catch the stealthy silent Guardian of Dreams right beside him. Grim and Shadow both jumped in a similar way that Pitch had when Sandy had snuck up on him as well, when the Boogeyman was trying to take over the world. Sandy would have at least smiled a smug smile at this, but he was focused on one thing, what had drawn him to Shadow; his eyes. They looked yellow from afar, but that's because of their bright glow. Up close, they were a shining pale tan, resembling the color of the beach sand, or the color of sand in a time hour glass.

_Time._

Sandy's eyes widened as he did a front flip to dodge Grim's attack, and in the process, pulled back Shadow's hood.

Pitch grinned. Shadow was a she. Shadow was also known as Lilith Shadow, Keeper of Time. Slightly less deadly than Grim. Under her cloak was a gray dress with sleeves that ended just past her elbow, and black slip-on shoes. Her hair was gray and long, her eyes still their tan color, that matched the color of the sand in the hour glass she was now holding. She turned it upside down and the only one who could move in the world was her, at least until the sand in her hour glass was at the bottom, which would obviously be in an hour. She grinned to herself, taking out a dagger with a tiny clock in the handle. "Sorry, Sandman. But you'll be the first to go." And she aimed the dagger for his chest. "Your time is up."

* * *

**Okay. So now I have good news. THERE IS HOPE FOR OUR PEOPLE! Meaning, that yes, Lilith Shadow is the key to reversing death. Or, more likely, her cursed crown is. So yeah. **

**Jack: Are you gonna make Sandy die, too?**

**Well, it's important that the only ones left are Midnight, Pitch, and Bianca...but damn, I can't get myself to kill Sandy. He's too epic. **

**Amber: So... he's not? **

**He is...I just haven't figured out _how_ yet. **

**Lilith: Time is wasting away here. Am I gonna kill this guy or not?**

**I don't know! Probably not. Maybe I'll just make you put him in that sleeping cage with everyone else. That sounds more peaceful.**

**Lilith: Well, hurry up and write the next chapter! **

**Okay, okay, I'm going! Now, considering I was sure that you guys would never forgive me for Purple Flame, I'm pretty darn sure you guys hate me more than just about anybody else in the universe right about now...**

**Blake: Just about. **

**Grim Reaper: What the...what is this? **

**It's the author's note where I write about you guys talking to me. **

**Grim Reaper: Oh... well then... what am I supposed to say? **

**Whatever you feel like.**

**Grim: I feel like a freak...**

**Well, you kinda are. **

**Grim: That's not helping. I'm not headed for a very pretty road, am I? **

**Not really. But it hasn't been a very pretty road so far. Just think of yourself like...like an actor. What you do is fake.**

**Grim: You mean, brutally murder multiple people and leave the rest to roll in pain, is fake? **

**Well, they feel it, but their immortal, so the pain goes away after I say 'Cut!'. See, I'm kinda like the director...**

**Grim: ...I really don't like this.**

**Monica: Speak for yourself! You're not the one being killed! **

**Oh. Well. Um. About that...**

**Grim: You're gonna kill me. **

**Possibly. I haven't decided yet...**

**Grim: This ought to be fun. **

**Eh, shut up.**

**LIGHTS! **

**CAMERA! **

**ACTION! **

**-ihearthorses6000**


	5. Chapter 4: Shadow's Cursed Crown

Sandy's head fell to the ground, as did the rest of him, before he deformed into a pile of golden sand.

And the two murderers didn't give the three Guardians of the World that were still standing much time to recover.

"Shadow, we're forgetting someone." Grim said.

"Oh. Right." Shadow replied. She snapped her fingers, trying out her newly discovered teleport powers, and Midnight appeared before them. The very blue eyes only needed to scan the area for a short amount of time before a small shriek echoed the graveyard.

It was understandable. Black sand, shadows, blood, ice, fire, and more stood around her. As well as North's blood soaked body, Bunny and Invidia lying on the ground, motionless, and the rest of them in cages, not a breath in them. She saw Pitch and Bianca and a small amount of relief surfaced her face before she ran to stand beside them.

"You alright, Midnight?" Pitch asked immediately.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Midnight stared around at the gory mess. "What_ happened_?!"

"You really don't want to know." Bianca muttered.

"Are they...are they really...dead?" Midnight couldn't get her voice to go above a whisper.

"Um, we really don't know...I think some of us aren't...hopefully." Pitch replied, staring around at the graveyard.

Midnight winced. _Which ones of her family were truly gone?_

"But there_ is_ a way to save all of them." Pitch muttered.

"_That_?!" Grim chuckled.

Lilith burst out laughing. "It seems the Boogeyman wants to die a very painful death. Such a fool. Although it would be amusing to see how far they get before they fall...why not let them die that way, father?"

"This ought to be fun." Grim waved his scythe, and a black hole appeared on the ground, absorbing everything in it's path, Pitch, Bianca, and Midnight being the first. The moment the three were sucked into it, the black hole grew smaller until it disappeared.

* * *

Pitch:

The dark.

Always familiar, peaceful, serene, strong... Always the perfect source of fear. I grinned and glared into the shadows, watching as it twirled to my command, in awe, respect, and fear.

I took a big whiff of it.

_Fear._

For a moment in the complete darkness I forgot about anything and everything and pictured the Dark Ages. Where every being that had a heartbeat would fear death and everything around them, just knowing they lived in the same world as me.

The amount of fear was so strong at that time I had no limits to my power. It was quite a shock and miracle when the Guardians came along.

Yet every moment before that time was simply powerful, magnificent, and-

-lonely.

I couldn't stop myself from flinching. _Never liked that word. Sounds so...pathetic._

But it wasn't just the Dark Ages. Almost every moment in my memory that word would plague the back of my mind. Because I knew exactly how much it stung. I lived it every single day. Yet it stopped when I met...

_Bianca! Midnight!_

I glanced around, still to find nothing but darkness.

_Where could they be? _

* * *

Midnight:

"Bianca? Pitch?"

And no reply. I don't think I had ever felt more powerful. I glanced downwards to only see a fog and complete darkness. Yet all around me were stars. Billions of them. All with their own glow, their own glory, and their own place in the sky. Some would suddenly and dangerously shoot across the sky, sparkling in their bravery. One of the most unique and beautiful sights for one to lay eyes on.

Something was missing from that view, though. Clouds. It completed the storm. It covered and protected those stars, and without it, the lights in the sky were exposed and weak.

The clouds. A mist of comfort and calmness that can easily drift into the night. That just belongs.

_Bianca. _

With a quick blast of blue light from my very blue necklace, I set off the signal that Bianca and I had arranged for this kind of situation, one I had never used, and thought that I never would.

I sat and waited for the returning light, only to be worried when there was none.

"_Bianca_!" I called into the heavens. No reply. "Damn."

I jumped onto a star and began to look for her, only to be more lost than I already was.

_Dammit. Every time, Cloud Girl, every time..._

* * *

Pitch:

"Ah, aren't you just an adorable group?" A disgustingly and unfortunately familiar voice hissed behind me.

Black sand leaked from my fingers and hardened into spikes.

"You need them, and they need you." The Grim Reaper voiced. I couldn't help but twitch. He sounded far too close.

"And you're just assuming this?" I demand, still refusing to turn around and glare at those eyes that I can feel on my back.

"I'm not blind." Grim chuckled. "You three are such so closely woven with your own trust that it's just going to be so amusing to see them all die."

"The clock is ticking, father, who are we going to kill first?" Shadow's, or Lilith's, voice soon joined Grim's in the shadows.

"None, yet. I need to know exactly what could torture them the most. Come, we have some time traveling to attend to."

"Don't touch them!" I cried one last time, throwing all the black sand spikes I had. They were barely near them when Grim and Lilith disappeared.

* * *

Bianca:

I couldn't stop grinning. Not when I was surrounded by my home. By lighting, by clouds, by rain... by weather. By what made me feel so relaxed I could just fall asleep... My grin disappeared as I yawned. The clouds looked so soft, so inviting...

A blue light shone in the distance.

_No, no, Bianca, you have to find Midnight, she just set off the signal...Come on, stay awake! Send the signal back! _

_Damn you, Bianca!_

I became aware of the clouds under me, yet I didn't remember when I had laid down. But it was too comfortable, too warm, to leave...

That smell. The smell of rain, of the water that trickles down the side of your face as you grin. Walking barefoot in the rain, splashing the puddles, dreaming of sleeping on clouds...

"_Bianca_!"

_Midnight. Just, give me a sec, okay? _

My eyelids suddenly weighed a ton, and my eyes stung and begged me to just rest for a moment...

_Hang on, Midnight, just...just a nap._

_Just a quick nap._

* * *

"She's asleep." Lilith floated down to her father.

"Excellent. Then the nightmare can begin." Grim chuckled, and from his hand came a small red Nightmare, almost too small to see. It flew into the clouds, and right into Bianca's dream.

Somewhere in the distance, Pitch scowled. He knew when there was a Nightmare around, his or not. And he really didn't like the thought of Grim-made creatures of darkness attacking Bianca.

* * *

Bianca:

_What the? Where am I? _

"Bianca! Bianca, help!"

_Midnight?! _

I tried to speak, but found that I was gagged, and my arms and legs were tied to some kind of pole. Everything around me was dark, but in the dim light I could barely see Midnight and Pitch, also tied.

"Damn, help us, Bianca!"

_I can't! I'm trying, I can't, I just- _

"_Bianca_!"

A knife flew out from the darkness and stabbed Pitch in the chest. And Midnight soon followed. It was miserable, listening to their cries, when all I could do was try to scream in reply.

The screams. Theirs or mine, I couldn't tell. And I couldn't stop screaming.

And they fell limp.

No, they fell dead.

_Bianca and Pitch are dead. _

_They're dead! Everyone's dead! Everyone! _

_Everyone is..._

_dead. _

Then came the ugliest, most terrible crying sound I had ever heard. It was a mix of a wail, a dying cry, a whimper, and a hint of a growl. It never stopped, constantly hurting my ears, reminding me how real it felt, how much it hurt. It kept crying at me, sometimes dying into silence when my voice grew hoarse. Then I realized that sound was coming from me.

_Kill me. Kill me now. Please, kill me!_

I waited for the darkness to throw it's own knife at me, but when I heard the beautiful sound of the knife whizzing through the air, it only cut the ropes at my arms and legs. I fell to the ground before I managed to crawl over to my best friends. To my family. Their crying, and breathing, had stopped long ago.

And I listened to nothing. To the silence. It was that that terrified me the most. They were gone. They would make a noise, of some kind, if they were still-

"No, no, no! Midnight, Pitch, no, no. Just, just come back. Please back back. D-Don't go. Don't-"

The words that escaped me made me picture the moment I met Midnight. The way she begged me not to leave when we had to go home.

"Midnight, please! Pitch, dammit, someone help! _Help_! Don't go!"

Soon I couldn't cry anymore, so I just laid down and stopped the moving, stopped the crying, and stopped breathing.

_Just. Let. Me. Die!_

* * *

Bianca:

The clouds. The comfort they once brought was gone. They were black, angry. Mad, just as I was. I was awake. That sleep had done something to me. And a tiny red Nightmare escaped from me, and the migraine I had slowly faded and numbed for the moment.

_Pitch? Why?! Why give me a Nightmare? Why give me **that** Nightmare?!_

Then my thoughts twisted around Midnight._ Is she alright? That Nightmare was so real...was it?_

My blue necklace glowed a blue color and sent out our signal, and just moment later a blue light reappeared in response.

"Midnight!" I called out as I hopped on a cloud and followed the blue beam.

* * *

Midnight:

It was random. Really random. Why get so sleepy so suddenly? I was just sitting on my star, sending our signal off, when I was too tired to sit up straight. So I laid on it and let my eyes close.

_Could Sandy do this kind of thing? With his golden balls? Maybe he's okay and I really have just been dreaming the whole time?_ How much I begged for that to be true. To have my reality be the longest, most terrible nightmare possible.

Instead I fell asleep on my star, thinking of waking up to find that it was just all a dream.

* * *

Midnight:

It had started out like any other night. My parents kissed me goodnight and left my room. I was almost asleep when I heard the sound of glass shattering. And dangerously close. A presence was just- there.

My immortal powers were weak, and I had no control over them. So I was as weak as a mortal. And they were armed. Whispers echoed in my ears.

"Aw shit, they're here! I thought you said they left!"

"They did, I saw the car go down the driveway hours ago."

"Why would they just leave the girl?"

It was my parent's anniversary. They couldn't get a babysitter so they just left when I was asleep. And they didn't plan on being gone long.

"When will they be back?" Just as the words reached my ears, so did the sound of our garage door opening.

"Crap. What now?"

"Simple." One of them replied. And I heard someone loading a gun.

"No, no, no!" I gasped, hiding under my pillow.

"Get the girl and the cash. Quick!"

I couldn't scream. I couldn't make a single sound. Not when I saw his eyes. The rest all were terrified, but his only scared me. Black, empty, and soulless. I stared into those soulless eyes. Those eyes were bloodthirsty. Evil. Those eyes were not human.

And they made me watch. I got to watch as both of my parents fell dead.

How? How did immortals die?

They were werewolves. With a single weakness. Silver.

Why? Why did the bullets have to be silver? Why did they make me watch as they died? How could they be so cruel?

And my eyes drifted back to the pool of dark red that my parents lied in.

Blood.

* * *

I wasn't on my star anymore. My limp, sleeping body had fallen, and now I was falling down to the quickly approaching ground. It reminded me of before of how this was before it all started. Me and Bianca. Just falling from the Eiffel Tower.

With my best friend.

I barely managed to stop myself before I fell to the ground. And there I just laid. Because moving seemed impossible.

_Was that nightmare real? It couldn't be. Wouldn't Grim have killed me already?_

I found it strange that the idea didn't scare me. Quite the opposite, actually. I found myself thinking back to the nightmare. The blood.

Blood.

I shuddered, and then the shaking didn't stop. I wanted to cry, but found that I couldn't anymore. Yet a few tears did manage to fall.

"Midnight?!"

* * *

Bianca:

There she was. Lying on the ground, shaking, tears rolling down her face. Her eyes staring into space.

"Midnight?!"

She glanced up, and something of shock, happiness, and relief covered her face. She forced herself up and embraced her best friend. "Bianca, where's Pitch?"

"I don't know, I was hoping he was with you." I replied.

"Dang it! We could leave right now, if he was with us!" Midnight sighed. The look on her face said the words she didn't dare. We could leave right now. Leave with all these scars and pains. Our family; gone. My parents, her Boogeyman, our friends, everyone we've ever loved...

"But why did he give me that nightmare?" I wondered aloud.

"You had one too?!"

"Yeah. You and Pitch died before my eyes."

"Oh...I got to relive the night my parents died." She shuddered. "Why would he send us those nightmares?"

"Maybe to make us terrified, so that he would get stronger and kill Grim?"

"That's not like Pitch. He would at least ask us if he could, first. He wouldn't just wisk us away into dream land." I reasoned.

"Maybe...everybody dying...has changed him?" She stared into the darkness.

"Everyone he's ever had to fight, every guardian that he needed to destroy, is gone..."

"But so are his family, Invidia and the others. He's not that cruel." Midnight seemed to be trying to convince herself more than me.

"Is he?"

* * *

"So, Bianca's greatest fear is pure, dead silence, Midnight's is the blood of her loved ones...or so your Red Nightmare says, but how can we find out the Boogeyman's fear in a nightmare when he controls all nightmares?" Lilith asked, twisting her staff, which had a ticking clock at the top of it.

"We can't. And no matter, I already know his worst fears now." Grim chuckled. "So let's put it into reality."

* * *

"What if Pitch freaked out because of all the horror and it just made him go insane or something?" Bianca guessed.

"Well, I wouldn't blame him if he did." Midnight replied. "But we have to find him and get out of here, and fast."

"Hurry, pathetic ones. Your time is running out." A warning voice echoed off the trees, as did a gong. And another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and...

"It's eleven at night." Midnight's voice was flat. What she was supposed to think about this?

"What the? Midnight...?" Bianca struggled against an invisible rope. "Why can't I move?!"

"What do you- ow!" Midnight fell back, unconscious.

"Shit, Midnight, no!" Bianca muttered, before falling to the ground in the same state.

* * *

Pitch:

"An hour, an hour, an hour's all you got. The clock will stop for no one. Waste no seconds that you have, their death is close at hand."

_What the hell?! _

One minute I was in my peaceful but lonely darkness and then I was chained to some kind of pole. It didn't take more than a single struggle to know it was sealed with a magic that could not be undone. Yet soon I could see Midnight and Bianca, also chained. And then it clicked inside my head. Well, that, and I could see not only their terrified, matching eyes, but the swords hanging above their heads. As well as the clock. The loud, ticking clock, that summoned one thing; death.

"Aw shit." I muttered. "Um, girls, hold still." The black sand fell from my finger tips and lowered to the ground, slithering towards them, and attempted multiple times to break the chains at their wrists, but to no avail. I tried to attack the swords instead, but the sand suddenly shrunk back and disappeared.

_They took away my powers._

_Shit, shit, shit!_

_An hour. An hour left with them._

_That's it._

I opened my mouth to say something, maybe reassurance of some kind, I don't know, but nothing came. And Midnight and Bianca looked anything but reassured.

"Pitch, are you okay? You look kinda...constipated."

I found myself actually smiling. "Um, no, I'm just kind of freaking out."

"Really? Why on earth would you be doing that at a time like this?" Midnight said with such a sarcastic, plain face only made it more amusing.

"I know, what could possibly be wrong with me?" I tried to make the smile go away, but it wouldn't. It only reminded me of exactly what these girls do to me; make my life whole. Without them, I'd be the low life, unsmiling freak I was as I was alone.

"Oh, hang on while I go get the list." Bianca chuckled.

"Oh, please don't try to find that list, I burned it and tossed the ashes into the ocean long ago."

"Yes, but I made a copy."

"Oh, here we go."

"Alright, first on the list," Bianca held up her hand, pretending to hold one, "you know two crazy girls named Bianca and Midnight."

"Who just had some pretty weird nightmares..." Midnight muttered.

"I knew it." I scowled. "So he did somehow take control of my Nightmares..."

"Pitch, now would be a good time to tell us exactly where we are, why there are swords above our heads, and how to save each other along with everyone else?" Midnight said.

"Yeah, you said there was one way?"

My mouth went dry and the words I tried to form died on my lips. _Speak, you fool, speak. If they're suspicious, then Grim will be, too, and if he finds out what I'm planning... _

"Um, it kind of includes the Grim Reaper to be asleep...and he's dead, he never does." I lied. "I was hoping Sandy would be able to help somehow, but..uh..." _That's a good lie, now defeating Grim and then his pathetic daughter will be easy...and then..._

_and then defeating everything. _

"So...it's really over, then." Bianca said, just above a whisper.

"Well, I-"

"Everyone. North, Jack, Amber, Donovan, Invidia, Monica, Blake, Tooth, Bunny..."

"And now us." Midnight sighed. "Pitch, find a way to escape."

"Yeah, even if we die, you could try and survive, in the least." Bianca pitched in.

A let a sad, dying smile grace my face. "Do you both not realize, that a world without you, is not worth living in? Don't you comprehend how much of everything you mean to me?"

"I'm sorry, Pitch-"

"-that we couldn't help you better. Be happy, wherever it is you go."

"No, girls, no, no!" I knew it was useless, but I fought against the chains.

"I hope mine falls first, I wouldn't be able to stand to watch you die..." Midnight glanced up.

"Oh, no, mine looks heavier." Bianca said. "And it would be too horrible to comprehend you dying first."

"Ditto." Midnight sighed as precious minutes ticked away.

It was maddening. To watch the clock tick as the ones I needed the most seemed to slip farther and farther away from me...every second was another moment closer to watching their blood spill, right before my eyes...how could I watch? How could they force me to something like this?

My mouth set in a hard line. Oh, yes, you will pay dearly, Grim, and when you do, so will the rest of the world.

Twenty five minutes. That's all I got left. And words won't come._ Yet the clock unmercifully ticks on..._

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick..._

The next time I focused on it, the time was down to ten minutes and a few seconds. Blink and it was down to a minute.

"Shit..." I muttered. Heart beating in my ears, I tried to form the words, but before I could say a thing, the swords had fallen.

* * *

"Well, that sounds like Pitch." Grim chuckled at the screams he heard. "That or some kind of dying ghost."

"What shall we do with him now, father?" Lilith asked.

"Oh, quite a lot, my shadow. He's half-dead as it is, but I know what he was planning. Trying to destroy me and you in his rage and keep you from putting that crown on your head." Grim said, glancing at the crown on a high pedestal to the left of them. "But he was too late for that. Now you can wear that crown and become the ruler of the world." He snapped his fingers, and a weak, miserable Pitch appeared before him.

Pitch couldn't move more than a crawl, and his legs and arms resisting such. Blood seeped through cuts that he had attained when he tried to rip away from the chains. Pitch glanced at the crown for a long moment, with tears in his eyes. His family was gone, and now the world would end as well.

"Ha! Your plan failed, Pitch. It's over." Grim smiled to himself.

"It's over." Pitch repeated in a whisper. "It's all over..."

"Yes, it is, Boogeyman, although life never really started for you, now did it? Not the right way, at least. Oh, your path so winding, I wonder why that child had ever really hugged you. That child, Pitch, is now dead. And because of you. Had you just given into the darkness, into the loneliness, so long ago, you never would've met that girl. And you never would've met me." Grim chuckled.

Pitch couldn't get his voice above a whisper. "Why?"

"Because it's fun! How many times do I have to tell you fools?" Grim sighed.

"_Why_?" Pitch repeated.

"Fine. Because of power, you fool. This planet is just so small and pathetic, but it has a good amount of slaves. Just imagine, all of them being trained to help me take over the world... over the universe. You remember your friend, Man in the Moon? Ah, I'm sure he's had fun, watching you all suffer. But he'll be next. And unlike the rest of you, he can't run. And when he is destroyed, everything he ever created will be, too. Ah, power, fear, trust. It all smells too tempting. But I'm sure you know that feeling. Because, though you deny it, you're just as much a monster as me."

"I am nothing like you." Pitch replied.

"So you wish. You know, if I had to had one fear in the world, Pitch, it would've been you. But I won the game, and you lost. I don't think I'll kill you, no. I'll keep you dying but still alive for all eternity. Ah, wouldn't that be fun? Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly wait! It's only begun, Pitch, it's only begun. Your old life is over. Gone. And now rises a new one!"

"No." Pitch muttered. "If it's over, it's over. I'll kill myself. I'll find a way. You won't win that game. _It's. All. Over._"

"For you, yes, Boogeyman, it is. Now come on, put the crown on, Shadow, and claim the world as yours." Grim said.

"Yes, Master." Shadow obeyed, holding the crown in her hands.

Panic filled Pitch's eyes, but there were no more words to say. It was over.

Shadow grinned to herself as she let the crown settle on her head. "The world is mine!" She laughed.

Pitch grinned widely, and then even started what was supposed to be chuckling, but because of his state it sounded sickly and insane. And then he grinned at Grim's apprentice. "No, Lilith Shadow, the world is _mine_."

* * *

Pitch stood up straight, his wounds healing, his power restoring, as the crown drained Lilith's of hers.

"What have you done?!" Grim exclaimed, as his apprentice disappeared before his eyes.

"I've taken over your graveyard, Grim Reaper. It was easier than I thought it was, to pretend to be miserable. And you were right, Grim. It's. All. Over." In his hands formed sand spikes the size of a football. "And now that your power is gone, you are as weak as a mortal."

Grim's eyes widened and he tried to scramble away, but the Boogeyman jumped before him and held one of the spikes to his neck.

"You know what I should do to you, Grim Reaper? I should keep you dying, but still alive, for all eternity. You deserve that so, so, so much more." Pitch sighed.

"B-But you're not going to?" Grim guessed hopefully.

"No. No, I'm not. Because I'm not like you, Grim. I'm not like you at all. I don't kill for power, or for _fun_. You are sick, evil, insane, dead, and weak. You know what I'm going to do, Grim? I'm going to kill you, bring back my family, and burn this place and then throw the ashes into the ocean, and you will be forgotten with it. I will go home with my family, I will wait for my wife, and I will restore her memories, and I will live. Forever. And you will be dead." Pitch then proceeded to cut Grim's throat, and then threw the body away. Grim then flew away from the place, and burned it. Then he whispered to no one, "I want to go home."

By that time, his family had been restored to full health. They all sat by a fire, that Amber was playing with, and they all sat on the floor or rug, hugging, touching, or close in someway, and the immortals stayed like that for quite a while before they began to continue their regular lives.

Midnight was on one of Pitch's legs, and Bianca sat on the other. Pitch twirled Midnight's hair on his finger.

"Pitch?"

"Yes, Bianca?"

"I know you're not much for really touchy moments or words, so can everybody here just say it in their head or out loud or whatever on the count of three?" She asked.

"One." Midnight grinned.

"Two." Bianca replied.

"Three!" They cried at the same time, and, whether out loud or in their head, everyone snuggled closer and somehow said to each other;

I love you.

* * *

**A/N: It's done! Oh my gosh. It's finally done. I know, I know, I KNOW. That took way too long. Oh freaking well. It's done. It's done. Wahoo! Let's all go celebrate now. I'm finally freaking done. Um, I don't suppose you would read my other stories? No? Yeah...that's what I thought. Anyway. Buh-bye! **

**-ihearthorses6000**


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